Ezekiel Chapter 27
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Ezekiel Chapter 27 Verses 1-36: Because Tyre’s fate is assured; Ezekiel can make the second oracle a funeral dirge for her. Under the imagery of a sinking ship, her destruction is dramatically envisioned. The whole chapter is a lamentation over Tyre. A lamentation, describing Tyre as a great trade ship destroyed on the high seas. The proper names indicate the participants in commerce with Tyre. Ezekiel 27:1-2 "The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying," "Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;" We ended the last lesson with lamentations for Tyrus, now we see they are continuing here. In this lesson, we will see the details of the destruction of Tyre, or Tyrus. Ezekiel 27:3 "And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, [which art] a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I [am] of perfect beauty." This speaks of the city, before the destruction. This city, actually, was on an island just off the coast. It was supposed to have been the great city of that day for merchants of the sea. It was very wealthy and very beautiful. One of their problems, however, was their great pride. They felt in their own hearts they were perfect, and had the most beautiful city. Ezekiel 27:4 "Thy borders [are] in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty." They were an island of magnificence. They built right up to the edge of the sea on every side. Verses 5-9: “Fir trees from Senir”. The area is the Amorite designation for Mt. Hermon, to the northeast from the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee. Lesser known places were: Elishah (verse 7), believed to be in Cyprus; Arvad (verse 8), an island city off the Mediterranean coast north of Byblos; and Gebal (verse 9), a name also used for Byblos, north of today’s Aram, or Syria. Ezekiel 27:5 "They have made all thy [ship] boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee." 1 Their ships were made to last. They were made of some of the most expensive wood around. We remember from earlier lessons, that the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with fir and cedar lumber. Ezekiel 27:6 "[Of] the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches [of] ivory, [brought] out of the isles of Chittim." Ivory, generally, comes from Africa. All this is reminding us of their great trading ability. Even the ships were made from materials of many countries. The ivory benches show the splendor with which they were furnished. Ezekiel 27:7 "Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee." They were so wealthy; they had bought the very best from other countries to build their ships. The linen from Egypt shows their trade with them. The sails on this ship were not just common canvas, but of beautiful linen. The blue and purple had to do with the embroidered work on the sail. Blue and purple were not native of Egypt, or Tyre. They came from isles of Elishah. The isle of Elishah took its name from the oldest son of Javan. The isle was known for its sale of purple and scarlet fabric to Tyre. Ezekiel 27:8 "The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise [men], O Tyrus, [that] were in thee, were thy pilots." The cities of Zidon and Arvad were, actually, suburbs of Tyre. Tyre and Zidon are, many times, spoken of together. Ezekiel 27:9 "The ancients of Gebal and the wise [men] thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise." This Gebal is located about 25 miles out of Beirut. The Greeks called this city Byblos, which means book, because they produced paper from papyrus reeds from Egypt. These were very skilled people in masonry, as well. They were stonecutters. They were also famous for their boat building and caulking. This city of craftsmen had caulked the ships for Tyre. Verses 10-11: “Men of war”. These places provided mercenary soldiers for the Phoenician army to defend Tyre. Ezekiel 27:10 "They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness." 2 This is just saying, they hired mercenaries to fight their battles for them. They thought themselves above being soldiers. Lud is spoken of as an African nation. Their ancestry goes back to the son of Ham. Phut was the Libyans. They were, also, descended from Ham. The mercenaries were from Persia, Lud, and Phut. Ezekiel 27:11 "The men of Arvad with thine army [were] upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadim were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect." Arvad was a city of the Arvadites, who were descendent of Canaan. Arvad was a suburb of Tyre. They were about two miles apart. It appears that Tyre had hired the soldiers of Arvad to defend her. Gammadim is probably speaking of the brave native troops. They were few in number, because Tyre had hired outsiders to protect them (see note on verses 5-9). “Gammadim”: People from a place often identified as northern Aram, or Syria. Ezekiel 27:12 "Tarshish [was] thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all [kind of] riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs." “Tarshish”: This verse begins the description of the commercial glory of Tyre. Most likely this place refers to Tarshishah in southern Spain, a Phoenician colony famous for silver (Jer. 10:9). Tarshish was one of the main countries Tyre traded with. This was, probably, located on the coast of Spain, and was sending the metals mentioned here to the other countries. We remember, from the beginning of this letter, that Tyre did not really produce anything to sell. All of the things they sold to a country, they had purchased from another country. Tyre's wealth came from buying and selling, not from producing. Tyre bought silver, iron, tin, and lead from Tarshish, and sold it to other countries. Ezekiel 27:13 "Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they [were] thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market." “Javan, Tubal, and Meshech”: Javan was Lonia, a large area in Greece. The other two, in Asia Minor, may be the Tibarenoi and Moschoi mentioned by the writer Herodotus, or slave-trading cities called Tabal and Mushku by the Assyrians. These seemed to deal primarily in slaves. These are primarily Greek. Tubal and Meshech are, sometimes, thought of as a Scythian tribe. They sometimes were representative of eastern Asia Minor. The "persons of men" mean slaves. Brass was common to this area. Ezekiel 27:14 "They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules." 3 “Togarmah”, is identified with Armenai in northeast Asia Minor, which is modern Turkey. Togarmah was a son of Gomer, and this place was named for him. It appears, their specialty were horses. They are spoken of later as followers of Gog. Ezekiel 27:15 "The men of Dedan [were] thy merchants; many isles [were] the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee [for] a present horns of ivory and ebony." “Dedan”: Probably Rhodes. Dedan here is probably speaking of coastal people on the Persian Gulf. They were caravan merchants. They had traded for the horns of ivory and ebony, and brought it to trade to Tyre. Ezekiel 27:16 "Syria [was] thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate." Syria is thought to be Aram, or Mesopotamia. It really does not matter for this study. What matters are the materials they traded in with Tyre. We see in all of this, that Tyre sold and bought everything from the basest substance to precious jewels. The linen here, is not the same as the fine linen earlier in the lesson. This linen starts with cotton, and the other mentioned linen began with flax. Ezekiel 27:17 "Judah, and the land of Israel, they [were] thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm." “Minnith”: An Ammonite town (Judges 11:33). Before the destruction of Judah and Israel, they had been merchants for the products Tyre had to sell, and they in turn had sold their excess honey, balm, and oil to Tyre for other countries. Minnith was an Ammonite village. This is the only mention in the Bible of Pannag. We can assume that Israel was in charge of their trade, as well as their own. Ezekiel 27:18 "Damascus [was] thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool." The chief export of Damascus was the wine of Helbon. Damascus was supposed to be the oldest city in the east. They had fertile land, and grew grapes.